最新版本的Office Communications Server 2007和Office Communicator
2007已经将语音呼叫和视频会议功能集成进去。
通过这个系统可以看到对方是否在线、在线、近期的工作安排等信息以便决定是呼叫、发送邮件还是进行即时通信。
Microsoft Links Phone, Video to Office
By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer
(AP) -- Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday launched two new programs that
allow people to place calls right from the Outlook e-mail program,
but analysts say businesses won't throw away their reliable office
phone systems until the software maker's tools are just as good.
The new programs build on server and desktop software Microsoft
introduced in 2005 that wove both instant messaging and indicators
of "presence" - when a user is online, busy or logged off - into
other communications programs in the Office suite.
The latest versions of Office Communications Server 2007 and Office
Communicator 2007 add voice calling and video conferencing.
Computer users looking at an e-mail in Outlook can see whether the
sender and other recipients are online and available to talk. With
one click, a user can invite the whole group to an IM chat, a call
or a video conference.
Communicator, a desktop application, also shows users whether their
contacts are online, much as an IM buddy list does. Users also can
see their contacts' presence on Windows smart phones and new desk
and speakerphones that plug into Ethernet jacks or PCs.
Based on whether someone is on the phone or has a meeting scheduled
in Outlook, for example, their presence suggests to colleagues
whether to call, e-mail or IM.
The changes are "as profound as the shift from typewriters to word
processing software," said Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman, at a
launch event Tuesday in San Francisco.
Until recently, corporate telephone networks were separate from
networks connecting office PCs to the Internet.
But as vendors started using the same underlying technology, and
software-based Internet calling programs like eBay Inc.'s Skype
gained traction, "traditional" phone system makers and software
companies have begun converging. And both kinds of companies are
working to mesh calling, conferencing, e-mail and instant
messaging.
"Everybody at this point gets it," said Gartner research analyst
Bernard Elliot. "These people have come into it from different
backgrounds, but they really all have a common vision that you
could bring it together."
On the one hand, Microsoft continues to forge partnerships with
telephone system providers like Nortel Networks Corp. and Avaya
Inc., and has said it will work with Cisco Systems Inc., which has
a "unified communications" solution of its own.
But executives also said Tuesday that they expect business
customers to eventually give up their traditional PBX office phone
systems.
"Three, five years down the road, (companies will) go completely
towards a software-based (solution) from Microsoft rather than
buying a PBX," said Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft's business
division.
Microsoft contends its unified communications set-up will save
companies money on telephone hardware and maintenance and cut
employee travel expenses.
Phone system providers don't necessarily see the future in the same
way. In an interview, Louis D'Ambrosio, Avaya's chief executive
officer, said Microsoft remains a partner and its programs don't
compete directly with software that Avaya is developing. While
customers may install Microsoft's programs, he said, they will also
continue to buy infrastructure from Avaya and use it for
sophisticated conferencing and other phone features.
Analysts say Microsoft's solution has the potential to be a real
player in this next generation of office communications.
Microsoft "is a real challenger," said Forrester research analyst
Henry Dewing. Companies including Cisco and Avaya have their own
efforts on the desktop, but he said Microsoft, whose software
already runs most of the world's personal computers, is changing
how people communicate faster than efforts by other vendors.
Yet traditional phone equipment companies retain advantages of
reliability and scale.
"People pick up the telephone, they expect to hear dial tone,"
Dewing said.
The Internet and corporate servers don't always work. Casual home
users may be willing to accept a scratchy Skype connection, but
business users are not. And he said Microsoft's system will have to
prove it can handle the same call volume at the same quality.
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